Like many journeymen actors, he appeared in numerous TV shows in the 1950s and 60s, including the western Laramie, detective show Perry Mason and scifi anthology The Outer Limits. In 1966, after his role as a debonair spy in an ad for Nestlé caught producer William Dozier’s attention, he was cast as Batman.

Many will deride Batman as campy, kitsch and a distraction from the ‘gritty’ roots of Batman. But without Batman, we would have never had Linda Carter’s Wonder Woman TV show, Christopher Reeve’s Superman: The Movie or any of the Marvel or DC extended universes. At its peak, Batman was airing twice a week in prime-time – hence the cliff-hanger endings to episodes we’re so used to. Rather than parody superhero comics, Batman took the larger than life elements from the Julie Schwartz era of DC comics and brought them to television. West knew that while the show was extremely comedic, he treated the role seriously, saying:

You had to never think it was funny. You just had to pull on that cowl and believe that no one would recognise you.

Despite his age, West managed to stay attached to the Batman franchise even after the show’s end. He appeared as Batman in the 1980s cartoon team up of the Justice League, Superfriends, the 1960s Batman in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham and recently Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders. He also appeared as Batman’s childhood hero, The Grey Ghost in Batman: The Animated Series and voiced Thomas Wayne in Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Despite being typecast post-Batman, he was always one to take his work seriously but not himself. He appeared as numerous parodies of himself in shows such as The Simpsons,The Fairly Oddparents and most notably, Family Guy. While his Robin, Burt Ward, wrote tell all autobiographies that depicted a rock-star lifestyle, West seemed more down to earth, moving with his wife and family to Ketchum, Idaho, in the 1990s.

His family released the following message announcing his death due to Leukaemia:

Soon after the announcement, tributes for the actor began to pour in, with Julie Newmar, one the the three actresses to play Catwoman in the 1960s show, telling Entertainment Tonight:

Adam set the bar so high for portraying the role of Batman…He was wonderful, spot on, with a twinkle in his eye. He had it all — looks, charm, intelligence, I could go on and on.

Catwoman’s milkshake brings all the Bats to the yard, damn right, it’s better than Zod’s.

The current holder the the Bat-mantle, Ben Affleck, offered his tribute to his cowled predecessor on Twitter:

Adam West exemplified heroism. Kind, funny and an all around great guy. Thank you for showing us all how it's done. @therealadamwest

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About The Author

An old-school tabletop nerd, Baz has spent most of the last decade organising games conventions in Ireland (or as he calls them, "céiles with dice"), with brief spells in professional journalism and theatre. Like most people over a certain age, he can only remember three or four things in detail, which have been largely boiled down to Mass Effect, Evangelion, why Predator is the most perfect movie of all time, and France.